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Can we Make a VAST Improvement? Promoting Anaesthetists' Non-technical Skills Through the Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training Course in a Low-resource Setting

NCT04521101 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 32

Last updated 2020-08-21

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Rationale: The World Health Assembly resolution 68.15 identified surgical and anesthesia care as core components of universal health coverage. However, about 5 billion people worldwide lack access to essential surgical and anesthesia services. Of the 313 million procedures undertaken each year only 6% occur in the poorest countries with an estimated 30% of all deaths globally associated with common surgical conditions. Patient safety in low-resource settings is hindered by severe workforce shortages, lack of essential resources, hierarchical culture and few opportunities for professional development.

Non-technical skills (NTS), such as communication, team working, and task coordination, are vital to patient safety. Up to 70-80% of untoward events in health care are associated with errors in NTS8. The Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills framework (ANTS) describes behaviour markers for NTS in anesthesia. This framework has been found applicable in low-resource settings.

Simulation-based education is widespread for NTS training in well-resourced countries. Traditionally, high costs have prohibited this modality in low-resource settings. Foundational work in Rwanda and at Dalhousie University has demonstrated that effective training in ANTS can be achieved through simple low-cost simulation. The Vital Anaesthesia Simulation Training (VAST) Course is a three-day simulation-based program designed de-novo to focus on core clinical practices and NTS that promote safe perioperative care in low-resource settings. The course uses low-cost materials in an immersive simulated environment to replicate common cases managed in district hospitals in low-resource settings. Realism is created with simple mannequins, iPads with the SimMon App functioning as monitoring, basic props (e.g., airway equipment, syringes, drapes), photographs of pathology, and briefing cards for scenario role-play.

Purpose: To assess the impact of the VAST Course on ANTS and explore factors that influence long-term retention of ANTS amongst anesthesia providers in a low-resource setting.

Conditions

  • To Determine the Change in Demonstrated Anesthesia Non-technical Skills After Delivery of the VAST Course

Interventions

OTHER

VAST Course

Educational course to teach non-technical skills

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Dalhousie University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2018-08-24
Primary Completion
2019-01-30
Completion
2019-06-30

Countries

  • Rwanda

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04521101 on ClinicalTrials.gov